All the Wrong Reasons: When something so wrong can feel so right! (Destiny's Games Book 1)

by Jerilee Kaye

  She meant every word she said to him. It wasn’t easy for her to let him go just like that. She took a big risk. There’s a great chance that Justin may not be able to convince his family that the arrangement will not work out. There’s also a possibility that the girl he was promised to was really the right girl for him all along.

  Whatever the case will be, she meant what she said. She would not make Justin turn his back on his parents, on his destiny as the heir of Adams Industries. And if he found his happiness without her, then she would truly be happy for him.

  26. Murka

  Indonesian for Fury

  Adrienne went to Yuan’s house. She told him that she let Justin go.

  “You must be out of your freaking mind!” Yuan said crossly.

  “I have to do this, Yuan,” she said sadly. “I love him.”

  “Then why the hell did you let him go?!”

  “I don’t want his mother to fall into deep depression! I don’t want her to get hurt. I don’t want to ruin his perfect family. I never had that! And I wanted it for him. I don’t want him to feel guilty if something happened to his Mom or his Dad. He will never be happy with me this way.”

  “Do you think he will be happy without you?”

  Adrienne sighed. She knows Justin felt devastated with her decision to let him go, too. But he had to fix things with his parents. And the only way she could do that is if she gave him up.

  “Maybe someday, Yuan,” she said in a sad voice. “If we were really meant for each other, he will find his way back to me.”

  “And you’re going to wait until that happens? How long will that take? You’ll hold off your life hoping he will come back?”

  She shook her head. “I’m still young, Yuan. I’ll just let things flow into my life. A year or two, maybe by then he will have figured out if it’s working or not. If by then he’s happy then I would move on.”

  “This is plain stupidity!” Yuan said.

  “It’s also called unselfishness,” Adrienne argued. “And I needed to give him that chance. I love him too much to hold him back from what’s really out there for him. I can’t bear the burden of him being disowned by his own family because of me. He would never be happy like that.”

  Her phone beeped. She stared at it nervously when she saw Justin’s name on the screen.

  Justin: You talked about that parallel universe. You didn’t mention one thing: Reality. Because in reality, you know this isn’t for good, right, Adrienne? I will use this chance you gave me to convince my parents that they have to let me go. And when they do, be ready to answer my question for real. I love you very, very much, Miss Miller. Hold on to that, while you’re waiting for me to set things right.

  Tears rolled down Adrienne’s cheeks. She missed him already. But she knew she couldn’t turn back. She couldn’t go running back to him. He wasn’t strong enough to let her go. She had to be the strong and firm one. She had to be the one to stand by what is right this time. If she left it up to Justin, she knew that he would rather lock themselves in his apartment and make love to her all day.

  It took all her strength not to answer Justin’s message. He had to move on. She had to set him free. So she didn’t answer. She brought the phone to her lips and kissed the screen, closing her eyes, thinking that it was his lips she kissed instead.

  Suddenly her phone rang and she almost dropped it. She looked at the screen nervously and saw her mother’s number on it.

  “Hello.”

  “You told us that you would come home to explain yourself. Well, it’s been weeks and you still haven’t shown your face here!” she said in a demanding tone.

  “I’m sorry Mom. I got caught up with a lot of work.”

  “It’s Saturday. Are you working today?”

  “No.”

  “Then I suggest you pay us a visit.” Then she hung up.

  Adrienne groaned. “God, kill me now!”

  “Monster Mom?” Yuan asked.

  Adrienne nodded.

  “Go. We’ll come with you. I’ll call Jill. This time, you need reinforcements!” Yuan said.

  “Yuan…I just…broke up with Justin!” Adrienne murmured. “I can’t face my parents. It’s going to be like pain after pain after pain.”

  “Well, Justin’s off fighting his own battle. I suggest you fight yours. This might do you good for a change. You know… one pain lessens the other. The more heartaches your mother gives you, the more distracted you will be about your breakup with Justin.”

  Yuan did have a point. And Adrienne realized that she can’t put off fixing her own life while waiting for Justin’s fate to turn around. Maybe if he came back to her, they’d both be free of excess baggage and everything would flow smoothly.

  “Are you sure you want to come with me?” Adrienne asked.

  “Yes,” Yuan replied, sending a text message to Jill. “You need us to be there. I just sharpened my nails at the salon. Who knows? Maybe Kim will need a little facial massage.”

  Adrienne didn’t bother going back to her apartment. She still had enough clothes left in Yuan’s place from the last time she crashed with him. Within half an hour, they were all in the airport checking in.

  Adrienne still felt like floating in the air. She continued staring into space, barely listening to what Jill and Yuan were talking about. She was reminiscing all the good moments she had with Justin. From the first moment they met, to the times they spent together in their own world when she kept him a secret, to the time he beat up Troy for her, to their reconciliation at the beach… to the time he first told her he loved her and that last night, when he asked her to marry him.

  You’re a fox!

  She couldn’t stop thinking about those words over and over again. And now, more than ever, she longed to hear him whisper those words again.

  Tears started rolling down her cheeks without her even knowing it. She wanted to call him so badly, to hear his voice again. But she knew she couldn’t. She promised to make it easy for him. Calling him and taking it all back wouldn’t solve his problem. And in her heart, she knew it was the right thing to do. No matter how painful.

  Jill and Yuan checked in to a hotel while Adrienne went to her parents’ house.

  It had been months since she went home. She felt a sense of familiarity as the cab entered her neighborhood. She instructed the taxi to stop in front of a maroon colored three-floor house.

  Kimberly’s pretty face was the first one that greeted her when she opened the door.

  “Oh, you’re here,” she said. She looked behind her and found that Adrienne was alone. “So, where’s the hotshot boyfriend? Gone too soon?”

  She gripped her bag tightly and prevented herself from swinging it on Kim’s face.

  “He’s a busy man, Kimberly,” she murmured. Somehow, she couldn’t bring herself to admit to her sister that her relationship with Justin just might be over. She could hardly admit it to herself.

  She stepped inside the house and immediately heard noises in the living room.

  “I didn’t know you were having a party,” Adrienne said.

  “I didn’t know you were invited,” Kimberly responded, giving her a fake smile.

  When she stepped inside, she found that Troy and his whole family were there with his parents.

  Oh shit!

  Immediately, the room fell quiet. They all stared at her in surprise. Troy looked like he saw a ghost. His mother, however, looked like she saw an insect she wanted to squish with her boot.

  “Hello,” she greeted them.

  There was silence. Then her father went to her and gave her a hug.

  “I missed you, sweetheart.” He may have embraced her, but Adrienne felt so unwelcome and scrutinized.

  How she wished she brought Justin with her. But she didn’t think she’ll be bringing him to any of her family gatherings in a long while.

  “I missed you too, Dad,” she replied to him.

  She pulled away from her father and walked over to her
Mom and gave her a peck on the cheek.

  Then she bravely looked at Troy’s family. “Good day, Mr. and Mrs. Williams.” Then she gave Troy a slight nod.

  She turned to her father and told him she’ll just go freshen up in her bedroom.

  When she got inside her bedroom, she found that it was a mess. Almost all of her stuff was in boxes. They were marked with her name. Even her bed only had the mattress, no pillows and no bedspreads.

  She wondered who did this, and why. Maybe when Troy’s family left, she would ask her parents about what happened.

  She took some clothes from her bag and changed into a yellow floral dress that ended nicely above her knees. Then she tied her hair in a half-pony.

  She took one last look at her disastrous room before going back to the living room. She nearly entered the living room when suddenly she heard her mother and Troy’s talking on the other side of the wall.

  “Well, I am just so glad that Troy finally came to his senses and went after Kimberly! I mean…I don’t know what he was thinking going for Adrienne.” She recognized Troy’s mother’s voice.

  “Well, I have always wanted Troy to end up with Kim. I knew Adrienne would embarrass me at one point in time. I just never imagined it would end up in a brawl between her new boyfriend and Troy.”

  Adrienne stood behind the wall and listened to the older women’s conversation. She was concealed by the door in front of her and the two women have no idea that their conversation was no longer private.

  “I cannot believe that your daughter was cheating on my boy, Marina,” Mrs. Williams said.

  “Well...I tried, Betty. I tried to raise her like Kim. But she really got a bad set of genes. She didn’t get that from our side of the family. She’s given me problems ever since.”

  “But you’re lucky, Kimberly is such a good daughter. My boy is happy to have Kim as his girlfriend now. I was afraid Adrienne was going to be my daughter-in-law. I didn’t want to say this to you before, but I was really worried. Just imagine! She was sleeping with somebody else behind my son’s back?”

  Tears pooled in Adrienne’s eyes. How could they talk about her like that? Didn’t they know that Troy and Kim were cheating on her all this time? And how could her own mother talk about her like this?

  “Oh, I’m sure Kimberly will make a better wife than Adrienne would ever be. Troy and Kimberly look fantastic together. With Adrienne…I worry about the grandchildren she would give you.”

  “I worry, too. Well, with Adrienne I will always be worrying if I’m really looking at my own grandchildren or someone else’s.” Mrs. Williams gave out a shrill laugh. Adrienne expected her mother to defend her. But her mother only laughed, too.

  She wasn’t a slut! She wasn’t sleeping around! What is wrong with Troy’s mother? What lies did her mother and her sister feed her head about her?

  Suddenly, Adrienne felt a hand creep around her waist and somebody pulled her from behind. She quickly spun around and found Troy looking down at her, pulling her towards him. His eyes were teary.

  She pushed him away.

  “Let me go, Troy!” she hissed sharply.

  “Oh, my Adrienne,” he said. “I’m so sorry!”

  Adrienne pushed him away. But Troy was quick to pull her to him, trying to hug her.

  “I’m sorry, Adrienne,” he kept saying. “I know…I can’t compete with your new boyfriend but if you only give me a chance…I would make you happier than he ever will.”

  “No, Troy! Let go!” She pushed him again, gathering all her strength.

  “What are you two doing?” Adrienne heard a shrill voice behind Troy, with made her pause. It made Troy pause, too.

  Adrienne looked behind Troy and found Kimberly staring at them angrily. She pushed Troy once again and he no longer forced himself on her. She gave him another slap on the face.

  “I said, let me go!” she said to him angrily. “What the hell is wrong with you?!”

  Suddenly, the elders rushed from the living room to the corridor to see what the commotion was about.

  “What is going on here?” her mother asked, looking at her crossly.

  “Troy…” his mother started.

  “Mom! Adrienne was trying to seduce Troy! I saw him pushing her away but she was forcing him to kiss her,” Kim said.

  “What?!” Adrienne couldn’t believe what Kimberly said.

  She stared back at her mother and Mrs. Williams who looked at her disapprovingly.

  “You believe her?” Adrienne asked them.

  “Why would she lie?” her mother asked her back. “And what else could be the explanation for it?”

  “Troy was forcing me!”

  “Come on, Adrienne, we all know you’ve always been easy. Why? Is your boyfriend busy humping somebody else so you decided to steal mine this time?” Kimberly asked venomously.

  She stared at Kimberly’s pretty little face and all she saw was… red. Blood red.

  She didn’t breathe. She didn’t even think! Nobody saw it coming. Nobody even thought it was possible at all.

  All these years of being patient with her sister, tolerating her in making her life miserable, all the days of bottled up pain and anger just exploded in a few seconds.

  Suddenly, Adrienne no longer stood on Troy’s side. She was beside her sister and grabbing the thing that she had always dreamed of pulling: Kimberly’s hair.

  “Aaaaahh!” Kim screamed in pain. Kim started flinging her arms and Adrienne managed to get hold of one of them and she twisted it behind Kim.

  Wow! My sister is a wimp!

  “I am so sick and tired of your lies!” she said to her angrily. “I never did anything to you! You kept lying about me! Why don’t you tell everybody how I found out about you and Troy at the beach? Huh?! Tell them how you were fucking my boyfriend behind my back! How the two of you have been cheating on me all this time!”

  Her mother gasped. Then she was quick to come to Kim’s rescue. “Kim is a virgin!”

  “Virgin her ass!” Adrienne released her sister and pushed her to Troy. Troy caught her. Kim’s face was tear-stricken and she looked positively scared of Adrienne. Adrienne turned to Troy. “What did I ever do to you? You were cheating on me! I found you having sex with my own sister…during the weekend getaway you planned for us! And when I broke up with you, you got drunk and beat me up! Did you tell them that? Did any of you know that Troy has a bad temper with women? He sliced up my lip pretty badly… after sleeping with Kimberly!”

  “Is this true?” Troy’s father asked him, unable to believe what she just said about their son.

  Troy stared at the floor. And then he nodded.

  “Oh my God,” Troy’s mother breathed.

  “I’m not some slut like you think, Mrs. Williams,” she said to Troy’s mother. “I didn’t love your son. And I wanted to break up with him and at least remain his friend. But would you be friends with some guy who cheated on you with your own sister and beat you up after?”

  Mrs. Williams shook her head slightly.

  Adrienne looked at Troy once again. “What were you thinking, forcing me just now? I pushed you away and told you to let me go! You wouldn’t let go. What did you want?”

  Troy took a deep breath. “A chance, Adrienne,” he replied. “A chance to make things right between us. It’s always been you I wanted. I made a mistake.” He turned to Kim. “I’m sorry, Kim. I tried. I tried to fall in love with you. But I can’t. I still love your sister.”

  Kim looked like she didn’t know what hit her. She expected Troy to take her side on this one.

  “Are you happy now?” Kim turned to Adrienne. “Are you happy making my life miserable?”

  Before Adrienne could talk, the doorbell rang. Her mother opened the door and two police officers entered the house.

  “Her! That girl! Get that girl!” her mother said pointing at her. “She physically assaulted my daughter. We’re going to file a case against her and make sure she stays in jail!”

&nbs
p; Adrienne stared back at her mother, in pure shock.

  “Mom?”

  Somehow, she remembered when she was young how she held her in her arms and sang her to sleep. She could hardly believe that this was the same woman. What did she ever do to her?

  “Marina!” her father shouted. “You can’t do this!”

  Even Troy’s parents were shocked. Sure, her mother can just reprimand her or say nasty things to her, but to have her arrested?

  “Marina, she’s still your daughter!” Troy’s father said.

  “I don’t have a violent daughter! She’s crazy! If she doesn’t belong in jail, then maybe a mental institution would fix her.”

  Adrienne stared at her father. “Dad?” Tears poured from her eyes as she felt the police officers take her arms and cuffed her hands behind her.

  “Marina, stop this!” her father pleaded. “My daughter cannot be jailed!”

  “My daughter cannot be battered by that crazy girl! She’s out of control. She shouldn’t be let out in the streets!”

  “Marina, you are overreacting!” her father said angrily.

  Tears kept pouring from Adrienne’s cheeks and she wanted to curl in a ball in one corner. She realized that her mother didn’t just not love her. Her mother hated her. And she couldn’t understand why. She couldn’t understand what she did to make her mother loathe her with so much passion.

  ***

  “I love you, Mommy. Happy Mothers’ day!” She remembered her eight-year-old self, bringing home a bouquet of roses for her mother. She was the only one in the family who remembered that it was Mothers’ Day right then.

  Her mother stared at the roses for a while and then placed them on the kitchen table. “Thank you…sweetie.” Then she leaned down and kissed her forehead lightly.

  It wasn’t special, and she barely saw the appreciation on her face, but it was one of those rare moments that Adrienne got a little bit of affection from her mother.

  All her life, she was trying to win her approval. Whenever she came home, Kim would jump into her arms and she would kiss her all over the face. Then Adrienne would look at her mother expectantly and she would… just ruffle her hair.